The Apprentice Becomes the Master
by Nevermore
Summary: A twofront war can be a little much for even a transgenically engineered super soldier, so Max decides on a way to keep Lydecker out of Seattle for good.


Therefore I say: 'Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril

James Cameron and Charles Eglee own Dark Angel. My use is in no way meant to challenge their copyrights. This piece is not intended for any profit on the part of the writer, nor is it meant to detract from the commercial viability of the aforementioned (or any other) copyright. Any similarity to any events or persons (either real or fictional) is unintended.

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Author's Note: This story is sort of an interlude between my fics 'Way of the Warrior' and 'The Code of Honor.' I figured that since a year passed between the stories there was plenty to tell, so here's one of the tales. It's sorta hinted at in the prologue to 'The Code of Honor.'

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The Apprentice Becomes the Master

by

Nevermore

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Therefore I say: 'Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.' Sun Tzu – The Art of War.

Max had known Colonel Donald Lydecker for pretty much her entire life. That made her latest job both easy, and hard. She knew he was an extremely experienced and capable soldier; however, he was also an obsessive-compulsive personality, and that would likely be his undoing. Even worse for him, though, was the fact that he seemed unable to see his escaped X-5's as anything more than wayward children. Max would demonstrate his error.

Ever since she took up the mantle of vigilante and claimed the city of Seattle as her own territory, Max had known that there were two major problems, both of which dealt with her pursuer from Manticore. First and foremost, she knew all too well that Lydecker would figure out very quickly that an apparently superhuman vigilante was one of his escaped kids. She didn't like that. Second, and only slightly less important, was the fact that her nightly excursions placed her in physical danger. She could not take the chance that she would be injured in the field only to have Lydecker show up on her doorstep hours later. That would make escape all but impossible. She needed to impress upon her mentor the fact that he was less than unwelcome in her city. For months she had planned everything, and now it was finally time to put her scheme into motion.

As she knew she would be in the news anyway, she took advantage of the situation. For the last three months, Max had worked primarily within distinct regions of the city, moving from one to another once she had quelled most of the criminal activity in the hot zone. Each location where she appeared was predetermined by means of a non-linear equation, which resulted in coordinates that could then be graphed on a map of the city. She knew that Lydecker had trained her to always work within a well-planned framework, and that he would be searching for a pattern. She gave him one.

All the while she slowly allowed clues to her pattern to be revealed. Max wanted to make sure that Lydecker would eventually, when she so decided, be able to figure out where she was going, so that she would be able to be waiting for him there. She had a little surprise in mind. The battle would take place down by the waterfront, in an abandoned warehouse where small-time drug dealers occasionally came to peddle their wares. It was certainly a plausible target for Justice, and Lydecker would definitely believe it. He would never see it coming.

For weeks Max had come here, looking over the area, wondering where Lydecker would be most likely to position his people. He would have snipers, at least two but no more than four. He would have an entire platoon of Special Forces. There would likely be a helicopter, as well as three or four Humvees. _If I were him, I'd also bring along a couple of my brothers and sisters to run point for me,_ Max had decided. She regretted what would have to be done, but there was no avoiding it. _Everyone but any of the X-5's would be wearing nightvision gear. That'll certainly provide me with an advantage. Knowing Deck, he'll likely have a small boat just out of sight of the dock, and probably three or four divers in the water. I'll have to remember not to give them a shot._

Finally, after all of her preparation, Max was ready. She had heard about a man named Richie Luger who, not coincidentally, was selling firearms in the back room of his liquor store. His business lay in the perfect position on Max's map, allowing her to make a bust and all but send a letter to Lydecker, telling him where she would be next. _He'll sit back and laugh at my predictability, even as he congratulates himself for teaching me discipline and the ability to formulate such a rigid and efficient plan. _After all, she knew, it made sense to divide the city into small pieces, and to then move through those areas with military precision. It was what Lydecker would have done. Using a non-linear equation as her guideline would only make her vulnerable if someone knew what to look for. Knowing one of her siblings was likely examining her movements back in Wyoming, she was confident someone would figure out her pattern. After that, she wouldn't need any more.

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"Alpha team, move into position," Lydecker instructed over the com system. He had to admit – he was impressed. As he had chased his wayward children across the country, he had found in each of them a bit of a unique personality. Of all of them he had located at one time or another, Max had always been the most removed from her military background. At least until recently. For one reason or another, she had declared war against the criminal elements of her home city. The ruthlessness and efficiency with which she engaged her foes had made Lydecker proud... and even more eager than ever to rein in his 'daughter.'

Thus far, Max had moved through approximately a third of the city, destroying resistance in a given area and then moving on to the next zone she had planned. Of course, as Lydecker had expected, Max had been a little too predictable, and that was to be her undoing. She had been trained to be efficient and thorough, and Lydecker had known that she would be proceeding according to some kind of plan. He knew there would be a method to her madness, he had only needed to find it. _A fractal graphic resulting from a non-linear equation,_ he thought with pride. If recognizing the pattern had been difficult, solving her base equation had been all but impossible. It had taken his best X-6 a full week to discover the pattern. Now he had her.

There had been doubts, of course, that she was following any kind of plan at all. Some of his superiors had argued that Max had digressed from her training just often enough so as to make it impossible to truly predict her behavior. Lydecker had known he was right, and had insisted over and over. Finally, he had proven his point. Now all he had to do was wait. It didn't take long.

"Spotter 2 reporting," Lydecker heard one of his snipers say. "I think I just saw a shadow move."

"All units on alert," he commanded. Most men would have disregarded the report as a trick of the light. Lydecker knew, however, that he had likely just gotten as much warning of Max's presence as he was likely to. "Where is she?"

"She just entered the warehouse, sir," his man reported.

_Perfect,_ Lydecker thought with satisfaction. Once his people had deciphered Max's planned itinerary, he had placed the surrounding four square blocks under surveillance. It had not taken long to discover that quite a bit of drug trafficking took place out of this warehouse. He knew that Max would end up here sooner or later, and so he planned to take her here. The site was perfect, with three exceptional points for snipers, as well as limited access with only one road, and a lot of wide open area both within the warehouse and immediately surrounding it. Max would have a hard time hiding, and a harder time escaping.

He waited two minutes, figuring that Max was securing a hiding spot of her own within the warehouse. That would allow her to ambush her targeted drug dealers when they arrived later on. _Too bad she'll be well on her way back to Wyoming by then._ "Alpha team, approach and establish a perimeter." It took only ten seconds for his order to be carried out. "Beta and gamma teams, enter the structure. Delta team, stand by." He watched as two groups of eight men breached the building, charging in. A moment of silence followed, and Lydecker's skin began to tingle with anticipation. Then everything went to hell.

The warehouse exploded in a fiery blast of light, incinerating alpha, beta, and gamma teams. It also blinded everyone that had been watching through nightvision goggles. Lydecker heard three distinct pops in the vicinity around him, knowing the sounds to be small explosive charges. Though he could not see them, he knew his snipers had just been taken out. He had walked into a trap. Small arms fire erupted from below, and delta team circled up and began to return fire in all directions. Lydecker could hear the death screams of his men, and began to move even though he could yet fully see. He only stopped when he felt the cold barrel of a pistol press up against his temple.

"Hello, Donald," he heard Max say, her voice devoid of any emotion.

"Max," Lydecker muttered, still unable to process all that had occurred. "You did this?"

"Of course," she replied. "I had a pretty good teacher, don't ya think?" He refused to give her the satisfaction of a response. If he was to die, he would do so on his own terms, and that meant he would be defiant until the end. To his surprise, seconds continued to pass and Max had not pulled the trigger. _At least, I don't think she did,_ he mused. _Maybe I'm already dead, and my brain's processes just haven't caught up with reality yet._ He waited a few more seconds, and then decided that he had to still be alive.

"What do you want?" he asked curiously, making certain that there was not even the hint of desperation in his voice. He didn't want Max to get the mistaken impression that he was begging for his life.

"I want you to leave Seattle and never come back," Max growled. "This city is mine. You're not welcome."

"You expect me to leave it like that?" Lydecker asked. "You might as well kill me."

"I'd rather not," Max shot back. "If I take you out, the Army will just replace you with someone I don't know. It might be harder to see that person coming. I'd prefer to keep you as my pursuer. At least I know you... and your methods."

"But I know you, too," Lydecker pointed out. Two could play at this game. "You're just as vulnerable to me as I am to you."

"Is that why your men are dead and you're at the wrong end of the weapon?" Max asked, amusement plain in her tone. "Don't try to impress me with your tough talk, Deck. It's not gonna work. You're only human, and you of all people should know the kind of disadvantage that puts you at in competition with me." Her words hit him hard, as he knew the truth of what she said. "Don't forget that you taught me everything I know."

"Yeah, but I never taught you everything I know," Lydecker responded glibly. "Why don't you just end this charade? Pull the trigger."

"Is that an order, Donald?" Max asked. He couldn't see her, but Lydecker knew she was smiling. She was enjoying this far too much, and that enraged him. "You came here with enough manpower to threaten a takeover of the city," Max said smoothly. "But now you're the only one left alive to go back to Wyoming. I've shown the ability and the will to set you up and knock you down. I can do it again... anytime I want. Don't _ever_ forget that. You have no more power over me."

"And you have no power over me, little girl," Lydecker shot back. "All you can do is kill me. I can accept that."

"Oh, I could do far more than kill you, Deck," Max purred. Her voice sent a chill down Lydecker's spine, and he felt his first tinge of fear despite himself. "Don't worry, no matter what happens, I'll leave you alive. You might never walk again, or enjoy solid food again, but you'll be alive. You'll simply wish you weren't."

"Fine," Lydecker agreed, deciding that discretion was certainly the better part of valor. _She's insane,_ he decided, and he knew that dealing with a madwoman was impossible. All he could hope to do was break even. She was right, of course. She had set him up, completely and brutally. He had never seen it coming, either. She had outwitted him and overpowered him, all by herself. He knew that he would always be wondering if his next clue as to her whereabouts were simply the prelude to her next ambush. He would always second-guess himself, and that would only make an already difficult situation thoroughly impossible.

"Remember, never set foot in Seattle again," Max warned.

"I won't come back," Lydecker promised truthfully. He would be damned if he ever came back to challenge this particular escapee. She had access to every nugget of wisdom he had ever passed out, along with a superior intellect to employ that advice. Seattle would be a deathtrap. _No, she'll leave the city eventually, and when she does, she'll be vulnerable. It's then that I'll get her. I won't give up on little Maxie, especially not after seeing what she's capable of. But I know better than to play in her own backyard._ Even as Max melted into the shadows, disappearing into the night, Lydecker was formulating his next plan.

_Sure, Max, you stay here all safe and sound. I'll draw you out, though. Someday you'll have to leave the city for something, and when you do, I'll be the one setting up the ambush. Now all I need is a piece of bait._

Fin

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Author's Request: Well, I guess here is the place where I ask for reviews. As I said, this is an interlude between _Way of the Warrior_ and _The Code of Honor_, so if you want to see more of this Max, check out those stories, too (if you haven't, already). So, did you like this, hate this, or feel a little indifferent? Is there stuff that could be addressed to make it better? Let me know, so that I can become a better writer, and maybe more adequately satisfy your need for quality Dark Angel fanfic next time.


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